There was a time when Gina Carano’s Cara Dune was a highlight of The Mandalorian. The former MMA fighter brought confidence and physicality to the Rebel commando turned merc, with her appearances in the first season drawing praise from all corners. Things have changed since then, though.
After a flurry of social media posts in which the actress mocked trans people, shared far-right conspiracy theories about the election and posted misinformation on the pandemic that’s currently killing over a thousand Americans every day, fan worship has transformed into disgust.
There’ve been widespread and high-profile calls for Disney and Lucasfilm to drop her from the show and to cancel the rumored Cara Dune spinoff. Now, Carano’s character has returned in this week’s episode “The Siege,” and it seems that folks aren’t too pleased about seeing her on their screens.
https://twitter.com/nojuiceadriel/status/1329709583196164096?s=20
https://twitter.com/IanGeoffry/status/1329782633748893697
Good for chapter 12, now let's fire the racist character @ginacarano @disneyplus & @themandalorian should be ashamed of not making at least a statement. This thing is spreading lies about COVID that could risk thousands of more american lives #FireGinaCarano https://t.co/9a0F53p5LF
— 🇺🇦 VLADES | Theme Parks | Outdoors (@CristianVlades) November 20, 2020
https://twitter.com/missionhillman/status/1329791043248803841
https://twitter.com/Tha_Queen_Becca/status/1329797901552332800
#Mandalorian Chapter 12 was pretty fun. I would’ve enjoyed it more if Gina Carano wasn’t in it.
— Spencer Stevenson (@Spence_Mountain) November 20, 2020
Dammit. Gina Carano is in the new episode of #Mandalorian I was hoping they’d leave that COVID denier out of this season. Maybe they’ll kill Cara Dune off. That’d make it better.
— Joe Go Blue (@JoeBlue1981) November 20, 2020
Ugh Gina Carano is back on The Mandalorian
— Gregory Ellwood – The Playlist 🎬 (@TheGregoryE) November 20, 2020
Gina Carano is in this episode of The Mandalorian? pic.twitter.com/yGrQZalZFY
— All Elite Eric🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🟦🟧 (@KarnRulez) November 20, 2020
5 minutes into Mandalorian and Gina Carano already made this the worst episode of the season.
— Drew Jepperson (@DrewJepperson) November 20, 2020
i’m gonna watch the new mandalorian episode but i’m not gonna be happy about it cause it’s apparently cara dune centric and as we all know gina carano can suck a whole ass
— jill✨ (@heyoimjill) November 20, 2020
It’s worth mentioning there are also many positive comments out there, but it seems enjoyment of her character now falls strictly along political lines. Liberal progressives are disowning the actress, while conservatives (specifically, Trump supporters judging by the avatars) are embracing her. This leaves Disney in an awkward position and given that the company has made public statements about their desire to be inclusive, I’m guessing there are currently ongoing discussions between Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni and studio execs about how best to ditch her.
Disney may have been able to overlook Carano’s conservative politics and pronouncements, but they’ll take a much dimmer view of her sharing images that suggest COVID-19 is a hoax and that masks won’t work. After all, bad opinions are one thing, but spreading deadly misinformation during a pandemic is quite another.
So, if you’re still a fan of Cara Dune, enjoy her in this new episode of The Mandalorian, as there’s a good chance it’ll be her last. I suspect that Carano’s future from here on out is starring alongside Kevin Sorbo and Dean Cain in the straight-to-VOD right-wing trash movies world.